Islamic State and the Nusra Front won\u2019t be part of the proposed Syrian ceasefire as the fight against the jihadists will go on until their complete annihilation, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov and his US counterpart, John Kerry, agreed during talks in Zurich.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing is that we came to an unambiguous conclusion that the UN Security Council Resolution 2254 will remain the main basis for us to move forward,\u201d Lavrov told journalists in Switzerland.<\/p>\n
During the negotiations, the two diplomats \u201cdiscussed practical steps to ensure the conditions for a ceasefire\u201d in Syria in accordance with the UN resolution, the Russian foreign minister added.<\/p>\n
The truce \u201cwouldn\u2019t apply to terrorist organizations Islamic State and the Nusra Front (Jabhat al-Nusra),\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n
“They can\u2019t be subject to an agreement on a ceasefire as they remain our enemies. And we\u2019ll continue to fight them until their complete annihilation,\u201d Lavrov stressed.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: ISIS may \u2018turn guns\u2019 against Israel, Jordan amid failures in Syria \u2013 IDF chief<\/p>\n
Moscow and Washington insist that the peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition shouldn\u2019t be postponed beyond January, Lavrov said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not even considering the postponement of talks from January to February… We are certain that these talks must start in the next few days,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The intra-Syrian talks are scheduled to take place in another Swiss city, Geneva, on January 25.<\/p>\n
The negotiations will focus on such issues as the tasks of the transition period, preparation of the new constitution and early election, the FM said, adding that Russia, the US and other foreign players will only monitor the talks.<\/p>\n
Lavrov was also asked whether Kerry and him had reached an agreement on the participation of the Ahrar ash-Sham and Jaish al-Islamin groups in the Syrian talks.<\/p>\n
“We can say that there is no such agreement,” the Russia’s top diplomat replied.<\/p>\n
Russia presented data on the terrorist nature of both groups to the US during the Zurich meeting, maintaining its stance that Ahrar ash-Sham and Jaish al-Islamin have no place at the negotiating table.<\/p>\n
Ahrar ash-Sham \u201cis known to have been repeatedly shelling residential quarters of Damascus and Russia’s embassy. Ahrar ash-Sham is a child of Al-Qaeda,” Lavrov explained.<\/p>\n
However, the FM expressed confidence that UN Special Envoy on Syria, Staffan de Mistura, would be able to form a representative opposition delegation for the intra-Syrian negotiations.<\/p>\n
The foreign minister also told Kerry that Moscow \u201cis ready to coordinate with the US-led coalition\u201d regarding Russia\u2019s humanitarian assistance in Syria.<\/p>\n
The participants of the talks \u201creaffirmed the need to deal with the humanitarian problems in Syria,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Lavrov said that he assured his counterpart that the Russian Air Force is taking into account the UN and Red Cross programs in Syria as they conduct their humanitarian operation.<\/p>\n
The Russian military launched a humanitarian operation in Syria last week in order to supply food and essentials to the residents of besieged towns and villages.<\/p>\n